Renata Scotto
Encyclopedia
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano
and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto
repertoire with excursions into the verismo
and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully into directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
in Rome and the Juilliard School
in New York
.
of 1952 at the age of 18 in front of a sold-out house as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
. The next day, she made her 'official' opera debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan
as Violetta. Shortly after, she performed in her first Puccini
opera, Madama Butterfly
, in Savona and was paid twenty-five thousand lire. Both roles would later become closely associated with her name.
In 1953, Scotto auditioned at La Scala
for the role of Walter in Catalani
's La Wally
with Renata Tebaldi
and Mario del Monaco
. After her audition, one of the judges, the conductor
Victor de Sabata
, was heard to say, "Forget about the rest." La Wally opened on December 7, 1953 and Scotto was called back for fifteen curtain calls. Tebaldi and Del Monaco each received seven.
Scotto's major breakthrough came in 1957: At the Edinburgh Festival
, La Scala performed their production of Bellini
's La Sonnambula
with Maria Callas
as Amina. The production was so successful that the company added an additional performance. Callas however declined to perform due to illness, saying that she had already appeared in the other performances against her doctor's orders. Scotto, covering the role of Amina, replaced Callas on September 3, 1957. The performance was a great success, and the 23-year-old Scotto became an international opera star.
In 1961 she performed Amina again at Venice's La Fenice
with tenor Alfredo Kraus
with whom she shared the same teacher, Mercedes Llopart
, and a long professional association.
During the 1960s she became one of the leading singers in the belcanto revival initiated by Callas during the 1950s. She sang Bellini's Zaira
and La Straniera
, plus Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi
, Donizetti's Maria di Rohan
, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable
in the Italian version and other repertoire rarities. In 1964 she performed with La Scala at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow, the first opera company tour to the Soviet Union during the Cold War
years.
Her American debut was as Mimì in La Bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
in 1960, the same year she married violinist Lorenzo Anselmi. The couple has a daughter and a son.
On October 13, 1965, Scotto made her Metropolitan Opera
debut as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly. She went on to sing more than 300 performances in 26 roles at the Met through 1987 and settled to live with her family in nearby Westchester County.
With Luciano Pavarotti
she opened the series of Live from the Met
telecasts in 1977 with Puccini's La Bohème. During the following years she starred in the telecasts of Manon Lescaut
, Luisa Miller
, Don Carlo, Il Trittico
, Francesca da Rimini
and as Desdemona with Jon Vickers
in Verdi's Otello
.
She also sang regularly at the San Francisco Opera
; Chicago Lyric Opera; Dallas Opera
; Royal Opera, London
; Liceo, Barcelona; La Fenice
, Venice; and Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
. In addition she appeared in Madrid, Genoa
, Florence
, Bologna
, Trieste
, Palermo
, Roma
, Berlin, Paris, Miami, Tokyo, and Osaka
among others.
In 1974, Scotto performed for a hostile audience for the first time in her career. While singing Elena in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, there was a demonstration from a small but very loud group shouting, "Brava, Callas". They continued to shout "Maria, Maria" and more "Brava, Callas" with Maria Callas sitting in the stage box watching Scotto's performance! Callas, though, would not acknowledge the shouts of the hecklers and instead gave Scotto a standing ovation at the end of her performance. Scotto's opening night Norma
in 1981 was less than a great success but her subsequent performances at the Met during the 1981-82 season were very successful as they were on tour.
For more than 40 years, Scotto performed in operas written by 18 composers and her repertoire included some forty-five roles. She is best known for her performances as Violetta in La traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto
, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Mimì (and occasionally Musetta) in La bohème
, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor
, Adina in L'elisir d'amore
, Liù in Turandot
, Nedda in Pagliacci
, all three leading soprano roles in Puccini's Il trittico
, Adriana Lecouvreur
, and Francesca in Zandonai
's Francesca da Rimini.
She also had success at the Met in Meyerbeer's Le prophète
, Ponchielli's La Gioconda
, as Vitellia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito
. Moving into the heavier Verdi repertoire in the 1970s, she sang Amelia in Un ballo in maschera
, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Luisa Miller
, Lady Macbeth, Leonora in Il trovatore
and the Requiem
, all under the baton of the Met's music director James Levine.
In the late part of her career, Scotto took on the roles of Fedora
(Barcelona, 1988), Charlotte in Massenet's Werther
, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier
(Charleston Spoleto Festival, 1995 and Catania), Kundry in Parsifal
(Schwerin, 1995), Elle in La Voix Humaine
(Florence, 1993; Amsterdam and Barcelona, 1996; Torino, 1999), Marie in The Medium
(Torino, 1999) and Klytemnestra in Elektra
(Baltimore, 2000 and Sevilla, 2002).
Her later concert appearances included Berlioz
's Les nuits d'été
, Lieder of Mahler
and Strauss
, as well as Schoenberg
's Erwartung
with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and RAI Orchestra of Torino.
(Festival Belliniano, Catania, 1993) and La sonnambula (Catania, 1994); an Emmy Award
-winning telecast of La traviata (New York City Opera, 1995); Norma (Finnish National Opera); Adriana Lecouvreur (Santiago, 2002);Lucia di Lammermoor (Music Hall of Thessaloniki, 2004); La Wally (Dallas, Bern); La Bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2007 and Palm Beach Opera, 2009); Turandot (Athens, 2009); La sonnambula (Miami and Michigan Opera Theatre
, 2008), and Un ballo in maschera, (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2010) .
In February 2008, Scotto hosted an artists' roundtable during the intermission of the Met broadcast of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur
and in 2009 she was back for another round-table with Natalie Dessay
and Juan Diego Florez
.
with Giuseppe di Stefano
and Ettore Bastianini
in a Mercury recording from 1959, as well as her Deutsche Grammophon
recordings of La traviata with Gianni Raimondi
and Ettore Bastianini
and La bohème with Gianni Poggi
and Tito Gobbi
, both which were conducted by Antonino Votto
in the early 1960s. Her 1966 recording of Madama Butterfly with Carlo Bergonzi and Rolando Panerai
, under Barbirolli for EMI
is frequently referred to as definitive.
Other important commercial recordings include Rigoletto with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
and Carlo Bergonzi under Rafael Kubelík
, Turandot with Birgit Nilsson
and Franco Corelli
under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
, I Pagliacci with José Carreras
, Cavalleria rusticana
with Plácido Domingo
, Norma with Tatiana Troyanos
, Otello (Verdi's), Adriana Lecouvreur and Andrea Chénier
. The last three were all collaborations with Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes
and conductor James Levine.
It's worth noting also that Scotto recorded (either in studio or in live performance) the complete Puccini soprano repertoire with the exceptions of Turandot, Magda in La rondine
and Minnie in La fanciulla del West
. Many of these were recorded with Lorin Maazel
for Columbia Records
.
Scotto worked with conductors such as Gianandrea Gavazzeni
(her self-described personal favorite), Vittorio Gui
, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
, Antonino Votto
, and Tullio Serafin
. She also enjoyed especially close musical partnerships with Claudio Abbado
, Riccardo Muti
, Lorin Maazel and James Levine.
Video
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
repertoire with excursions into the verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully into directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, based in Italy.It is based at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, and was founded by the papal bull, Ratione congruit, issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western...
in Rome and the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Singing career
Renata Scotto was born in Savona, Italy. She made her operatic debut in her home town on Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
of 1952 at the age of 18 in front of a sold-out house as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. The next day, she made her 'official' opera debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
as Violetta. Shortly after, she performed in her first Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
opera, Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, in Savona and was paid twenty-five thousand lire. Both roles would later become closely associated with her name.
In 1953, Scotto auditioned at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
for the role of Walter in Catalani
Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley and La Wally...
's La Wally
La Wally
La Wally is a four-act opera by Alfredo Catalani, composed on a libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed at La Scala, Milan on 20 January 1892....
with Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
and Mario del Monaco
Mario del Monaco
Mario Del Monaco was an Italian tenor who is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century....
. After her audition, one of the judges, the conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Victor de Sabata
Victor de Sabata
Victor de Sabata was an Italian conductor and composer. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished operatic conductors of the twentieth century, especially for his Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. He is also acclaimed for his interpretations of orchestral music...
, was heard to say, "Forget about the rest." La Wally opened on December 7, 1953 and Scotto was called back for fifteen curtain calls. Tebaldi and Del Monaco each received seven.
Scotto's major breakthrough came in 1957: At the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, La Scala performed their production of Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
with Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
as Amina. The production was so successful that the company added an additional performance. Callas however declined to perform due to illness, saying that she had already appeared in the other performances against her doctor's orders. Scotto, covering the role of Amina, replaced Callas on September 3, 1957. The performance was a great success, and the 23-year-old Scotto became an international opera star.
In 1961 she performed Amina again at Venice's La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
with tenor Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
with whom she shared the same teacher, Mercedes Llopart
Mercedes Llopart
Mercedes Llopart was a Spanish soprano who later became a notable singing teacher in Italy.Mercedes Llopart studied in her native Barcelona and made her operatic debut there in 1915. She then went to Italy where she sang in many small theatres before making her debut at the Rome Opera in 1920...
, and a long professional association.
During the 1960s she became one of the leading singers in the belcanto revival initiated by Callas during the 1950s. She sang Bellini's Zaira
Zaira
Zaira is a popular female name in Spain and Italy. Its main meanings are "princess" in Irish and Hebrew and "rose" in Arabic....
and La Straniera
La straniera
La straniera is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, based on L'étrangère by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt...
, plus Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
, Donizetti's Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan is a melodramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.- Roles :- Synopsis :The comte de...
, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
in the Italian version and other repertoire rarities. In 1964 she performed with La Scala at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow, the first opera company tour to the Soviet Union during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
years.
Her American debut was as Mimì in La Bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
in 1960, the same year she married violinist Lorenzo Anselmi. The couple has a daughter and a son.
On October 13, 1965, Scotto made her Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly. She went on to sing more than 300 performances in 26 roles at the Met through 1987 and settled to live with her family in nearby Westchester County.
With Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
she opened the series of Live from the Met
Live from the Met
Live from the Metropolitan Opera is an American television program that presented performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, on the Public Broadcasting Service television network. The program began in 1977, and was telecast live for its first few seasons...
telecasts in 1977 with Puccini's La Bohème. During the following years she starred in the telecasts of Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...
, Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
, Don Carlo, Il Trittico
Il trittico
Il trittico is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini...
, Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta was the daughter of Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna. She was a historical contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy.-Arranged marriage:...
and as Desdemona with Jon Vickers
Jon Vickers
Jonathan Stewart Vickers, CC , known professionally as Jon Vickers, is a retired Canadian heldentenor.Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study opera at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...
in Verdi's Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
.
She also sang regularly at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
; Chicago Lyric Opera; Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
; Royal Opera, London
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
; Liceo, Barcelona; La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, Venice; and Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. In addition she appeared in Madrid, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Roma
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Berlin, Paris, Miami, Tokyo, and Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
among others.
In 1974, Scotto performed for a hostile audience for the first time in her career. While singing Elena in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, there was a demonstration from a small but very loud group shouting, "Brava, Callas". They continued to shout "Maria, Maria" and more "Brava, Callas" with Maria Callas sitting in the stage box watching Scotto's performance! Callas, though, would not acknowledge the shouts of the hecklers and instead gave Scotto a standing ovation at the end of her performance. Scotto's opening night Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
in 1981 was less than a great success but her subsequent performances at the Met during the 1981-82 season were very successful as they were on tour.
For more than 40 years, Scotto performed in operas written by 18 composers and her repertoire included some forty-five roles. She is best known for her performances as Violetta in La traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Mimì (and occasionally Musetta) in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Adina in L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
, Liù in Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, Nedda in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, all three leading soprano roles in Puccini's Il trittico
Il trittico
Il trittico is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini...
, Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé...
, and Francesca in Zandonai
Riccardo Zandonai
Riccardo Zandonai was an Italian composer.-Biography:Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria–Hungary....
's Francesca da Rimini.
She also had success at the Met in Meyerbeer's Le prophète
Le prophète
Le prophète is an opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe.-Performance history:...
, Ponchielli's La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
, as Vitellia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
. Moving into the heavier Verdi repertoire in the 1970s, she sang Amelia in Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
, Lady Macbeth, Leonora in Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
and the Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
, all under the baton of the Met's music director James Levine.
In the late part of her career, Scotto took on the roles of Fedora
Fedora (Giordano)
Fedora is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play Fédora by Victorien Sardou. Along with Andrea Chénier and Siberia, it is one of the most notable works of Giordano...
(Barcelona, 1988), Charlotte in Massenet's Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
(Charleston Spoleto Festival, 1995 and Catania), Kundry in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
(Schwerin, 1995), Elle in La Voix Humaine
La voix humaine
La voix humaine is a one-act opera for one character, with music by Francis Poulenc to a libretto by Jean Cocteau, based on his 1930 play. La voix humaine was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Salle Favart in Paris on 6 February 1959...
(Florence, 1993; Amsterdam and Barcelona, 1996; Torino, 1999), Marie in The Medium
The Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...
(Torino, 1999) and Klytemnestra in Elektra
Elektra (opera)
Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
(Baltimore, 2000 and Sevilla, 2002).
Her later concert appearances included Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
's Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été , Op. 7, is a song cycle by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier. The collection was completed in 1841, and initially composed for either baritone, contralto, or mezzo-soprano, and piano...
, Lieder of Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
and Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, as well as Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's Erwartung
Erwartung
Erwartung , Op.17 is a one-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg to a libretto by Marie Pappenheim. Composed in 1909, it was not premiered until June 6, 1924 in Prague conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as the soprano. The work takes the unusual form of a monologue for solo...
with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and RAI Orchestra of Torino.
As stage director
Scotto's director credits include: Madama Butterfly (Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera); Bellini's Il pirataIl pirata
Il pirata is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from a French translation of the tragic play Bertram, or The Castle of St Aldobrando by Charles Maturin...
(Festival Belliniano, Catania, 1993) and La sonnambula (Catania, 1994); an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning telecast of La traviata (New York City Opera, 1995); Norma (Finnish National Opera); Adriana Lecouvreur (Santiago, 2002);Lucia di Lammermoor (Music Hall of Thessaloniki, 2004); La Wally (Dallas, Bern); La Bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2007 and Palm Beach Opera, 2009); Turandot (Athens, 2009); La sonnambula (Miami and Michigan Opera Theatre
Michigan Opera Theatre
Michigan Opera Theatre is Michigan's principal opera company. The company is based in Detroit, where it performs in the Detroit Opera House. Each year it presents an opera and dance season. The company usually presents five operas in their original language with English supertitles and hosts five...
, 2008), and Un ballo in maschera, (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2010) .
In February 2008, Scotto hosted an artists' roundtable during the intermission of the Met broadcast of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé...
and in 2009 she was back for another round-table with Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France...
and Juan Diego Florez
Juan Diego Flórez
Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....
.
Honors
- 2007 - Recipient of the Opera NewsOpera NewsOpera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
Award by the Metropolitan Opera Guild
- 2009 - Opera Tampa's Anton Coppola Award for excellence in the arts.
- 2009 - Honorary doctorate by Juilliard School.
- She won two Emmys, for the telecast of La Gioconda and her direction of La traviata from NYCO.
- Award Franco Albiatti della Critica Italiana
- Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungThe Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
award for her interpretation of the Marschallin in Der RosenkavalierDer RosenkavalierDer Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
.
Recorded legacy
Some of Renata Scotto's finest recordings came from the late 1950s and 1960s, during which her voice was at its freshest. Examples of Scotto at her best are her Lucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
with Giuseppe di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli...
and Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini was an Italian opera singer who was particularly associated with the operas of Verdi. He had a prolific international career between 1945 and 1965 which was cut short by throat cancer. He began his professional career as a bass working in opera houses throughout Italy and in...
in a Mercury recording from 1959, as well as her Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
recordings of La traviata with Gianni Raimondi
Gianni Raimondi
Gianni Raimondi was an Italian lyric tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Bologna, Raimondi studied at the Music Conservatory of his native city with Antonio Melandri, and Gennaro Barra-Caracciolo and in Mantua with Ettore Campogalliani...
and Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini was an Italian opera singer who was particularly associated with the operas of Verdi. He had a prolific international career between 1945 and 1965 which was cut short by throat cancer. He began his professional career as a bass working in opera houses throughout Italy and in...
and La bohème with Gianni Poggi
Gianni Poggi
Gianni Poggi was an Italian tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Piacenza, Poggi studied first with Valeria Manna, and later in Milan with Emilio Ghirardini. He made his debut in Palermo, as Rodolfo, in 1947...
and Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.-Biography:Tito Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before he trained as a singer. Giulio Crimi, a well-known Italian tenor of a previous generation, was Gobbi's teacher in Rome...
, both which were conducted by Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto was an Italian operatic conductor. Votto developed an extensive discography with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when EMI produced the bulk of its studio recordings featuring Maria Callas...
in the early 1960s. Her 1966 recording of Madama Butterfly with Carlo Bergonzi and Rolando Panerai
Rolando Panerai
Rolando Panerai Italian baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career in both comic and dramatic roles.Rolando Panerai was born in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, Italy....
, under Barbirolli for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
is frequently referred to as definitive.
Other important commercial recordings include Rigoletto with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
and Carlo Bergonzi under Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Early life:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me." His mother was a Hungarian...
, Turandot with Birgit Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
and Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was a famous Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, a...
under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli was a prominent Italian opera conductor. He studied piano and composition at Bologna, and graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome in 1938. He made his debut at La Scala in 1946 and his Covent Garden debut in 1956...
, I Pagliacci with José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
, Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, Norma with Tatiana Troyanos
Tatiana Troyanos
Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent.-Early life:...
, Otello (Verdi's), Adriana Lecouvreur and Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
. The last three were all collaborations with Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
and conductor James Levine.
It's worth noting also that Scotto recorded (either in studio or in live performance) the complete Puccini soprano repertoire with the exceptions of Turandot, Magda in La rondine
La rondine
La rondine is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
and Minnie in La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
. Many of these were recorded with Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
.
Scotto worked with conductors such as Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Gianandrea Gavazzeni was an Italian pianist, conductor , composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11...
(her self-described personal favorite), Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui was an Italian conductor and composer.Gui was born in Rome in 1885. In 1933 Bruno Walter invited him to be guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival....
, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli was a prominent Italian opera conductor. He studied piano and composition at Bologna, and graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome in 1938. He made his debut at La Scala in 1946 and his Covent Garden debut in 1956...
, Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto was an Italian operatic conductor. Votto developed an extensive discography with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when EMI produced the bulk of its studio recordings featuring Maria Callas...
, and Tullio Serafin
Tullio Serafin
-Biography:Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19th century bel canto operas by Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti to become staples of 20th century repertoire...
. She also enjoyed especially close musical partnerships with Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
, Lorin Maazel and James Levine.
Discography
Audio- Bellini; I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Claudio Abbado, 1968
- Bellini, La Sonnambula. Cillario, 1972, Covent Garden
- Bellini, La Sonnambula, Santi, La Fenice 1961
- Bellini, La straniera, Gracis.
- Bellini; Norma; Levine; Sony 1979
- Bellini, Norma, Muti, Firenze 1981
- Bellini, Zaira, Belardinelli
- Bizet, Carmen (Micaela), Molinari-Pradelli
- Cilea; Adriana Lecouvreur; Levine; Sony
- Cilea; Adriana Lecouvreur; Gavazzeni
- Cherubini; Medea (Glauce), Serafin, EMI 1957
- Donizetti, Don Pasquale, Franci
- Donizetti, L'elisir d'amore, Gavazzeni
- Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor, Sanzogno, 1959
- Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor, Gavazzeni
- Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor, Sanzogno
- Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigacci
- Donizetti, Maria di Rohan, Gavazzeni
- Donizetti, Anna Bolena, Dallas, Rudel, 1980
- Giordano; Andrea Chénier; Levine; RCA 1978
- Gounod, Philemon et Baucis, Sanzogno
- Gounod, Faust, Parodi
- Leoncavallo; I pagliacci. Muti. EMI
- Mascagni; Cavalleria rusticana; Levine; RCA
- Meyerbeer, Roberto Il diavolo, Sanzogno
- Meyerbeer, Le prophète, Lewis, CBS
- Pergolesi, La serva padrona, Fasano
- Ponchielli, La Gioconda, Bartoletti
- Puccini: Edgar. Queler. CBS
- Puccini; La bohème; Votto DG, 1962
- Puccini; La bohème; Levine, EMI, 1979
- Puccini; Le villi; Maazel, CBS
- Puccini; Il trittico (in Il tabarro & Suor Angelica); Maazel; CBS 1979
- Puccini; Madama Butterfly; Barbirolli. EMI 1966
- Puccini; Madama Butterfly; Maazel. Sony 1978
- Puccini; Madama Butterfly, Adler, San Francisco 1965
- Puccini, Madama Butterfly, Basile
- Puccini; Tosca. Levine, EMI, 1980
- Puccini; Turandot (Liù), Molinari-Pradelli, EMI, 1967
- Refice; Cecilia, Campori
- Respighi; Il Tramonto, Fulton, Tokyo String Quartet
- Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Bellezza
- Spontini, La vestale, Picchi
- Verdi, I Lombardi, Gavazzeni
- Verdi, I Vespri Siciliani, Gavazzeni
- Verdi, I Vespri Siciliani, Muti
- Verdi, La traviata, Cillario
- Verdi; La traviata; Votto DG 1963
- Verdi; La traviata; Muti. EMI 1980
- Verdi; Nabucco; Muti ; EMI
- Verdi; Requiem; Muti; EMI
- Verdi, Requiem, Abbado, Rome 1977
- Verdi; Rigoletto; Gavazzeni; RCA
- Verdi; Rigoletto; Kubelik; RCA
- Verdi, Rigoletto, Giulini
- Verdi; Otello; Levine; RCA
- Verdi, Otello, Muti, Firenze, 1978
- Verdi; Songs, Washington
- Wolf-Ferrari; Il segreto di Susanna, Pritchard, CBS 1980
- The very best of Renata Scotto; Arias y escenas; EMI
- Italian Opera Arias; Gavazzeni; Sony 1976
- Aria & Song, Mascagni-Liszt-Scarlatti-Rossini, Ivan Davis
- French Recital (Berlioz, Offenbach, Massenet, Thomas, Gounod), Rosenkrans
- Haydn-Donizetti-Faure-Puccini Recital, Arnaltes
- Christmas with Scotto, Anselmi
- In Moscow. Recorded Live In 1964 (Melodiya, 2009)
Video
- Donizetti. L'elisir d'amore. Gavazzeni. Firenze, 1967
- Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor. Bartoletti, Tokyo 1967
- Gounod. Faust. Ethuin, Tokyo, 1973
- Puccini. La Bohème; Levine (Mimì), Met 1977
- Puccini. La Bohème; Levine (Mussetta), Met 1982
- Puccini. Manon Lescaut; Levine; Met 1983
- Verdi. Otello; Levine; Met 1978
- Verdi. La traviata; Verchi, Tokyo 1973
- Verdi. Luisa Miller; Levine; Met 1979
- Zandonai. Francesca da Rimini, Levine; Met 1984
- Recital in Budapest 1991, Lukacs
- In Concert and Recital in Montreal 1986, Fulton, Armenian